Raids, arrests in Colombia target illegal mines

[WorldNews]

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Colombian authorities said Monday nearly 60 people were arrested in raids last week targeting illegal mining operations used to finance the FARC guerrilla group. "It is the cleanest and hardest blow in more than a decade, possibly one of the biggest in history, against illegal mining," said Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon. The operation, which involved more than 600 troops, police and magistrates, was carried out in several regions of southern and eastern Colombia, near its borders with Brazil and Venezuela, where guerrilla groups and criminal gangs are active. Pinzon said the raids dismantled "an illegal financing network" of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country's largest guerrilla group with an estimated 8,000 fighters.

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